"Epigenetic clocks": Theory and applications in human biology
"Epigenetic clocks": Theory and applications in human biology
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DOI：
10.1002/ajhb.23488
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发表时间：
2020-08-26
影响因子：
2.9
通讯作者：
Ryan, Calen P.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Ryan, Calen P.
所有人都会变老，但我们如何变老以及变老的速度因人而异。表观年龄和实足年龄之间的这种偏差通常被称为“生物年龄”（BA），直到最近，用于研究BA的强大工具一直很稀缺。“表观遗传时钟”正在开始改变这一点。表观遗传时钟使用表观基因组中可预测的变化，通常是DNA甲基化，以前所未有的准确性估计实际年龄。更重要的是，表观遗传年龄和实际年龄之间的偏差比单独的实际年龄更好地预测了广泛的健康结果和死亡风险。因此，表观遗传时钟似乎可以捕获与BA相关的基本分子过程，并可以作为研究整个生命周期中健康，发育和衰老的强大工具。在这篇文章中，我回顾表观遗传时钟，特别是因为它们涉及到人类生物学的关键理论和应用问题。我首先提供一个概述表观遗传时钟是如何构建的，我们对它们的了解。然后我讨论了与人类生物学家特别相关的新兴应用，这些应用与生殖、生活史、压力和环境有关。最后，我概述了实施表观遗传时钟所需的方法，包括研究设计，样本收集和处理和解释表观遗传时钟的技术考虑因素。这篇综述的目的是强调表观遗传时钟可以告知人类生物学问题的一些方式，反之亦然，并为人类生物学家提供成功将表观遗传时钟纳入其研究所需的基础知识。
All humans age, but how we age-and how fast-differs considerably from person to person. This deviation between apparent age and chronological age is often referred to as "biological age" (BA) and until recently robust tools for studying BA have been scarce. "Epigenetic clocks" are starting to change this. Epigenetic clocks use predictable changes in the epigenome, usually DNA methylation, to estimate chronological age with unprecedented accuracy. More importantly, deviations between epigenetic age and chronological age predict a broad range of health outcomes and mortality risks better than chronological age alone. Thus, epigenetic clocks appear to capture fundamental molecular processes tied to BA and can serve as powerful tools for studying health, development, and aging across the lifespan. In this article, I review epigenetic clocks, especially as they relate to key theoretical and applied issues in human biology. I first provide an overview of how epigenetic clocks are constructed and what we know about them. I then discuss emerging applications of particular relevance to human biologists-those related to reproduction, life-history, stress, and the environment. I conclude with an overview of the methods necessary for implementing epigenetic clocks, including considerations of study design, sample collection, and technical considerations for processing and interpreting epigenetic clocks. The goal of this review is to highlight some of the ways that epigenetic clocks can inform questions in human biology, and vice versa, and to provide human biologists with the foundational knowledge necessary to successfully incorporate epigenetic clocks into their research.